BP's underwater robots have successfully shorn off a pipe at the seabed site
of the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and will attempt to install a
cap and funnel oil to the surface.

Oil continues to flow as technicians attempt a repair at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf of MexicoPhoto: REUTERS

5:04PM BST 03 Jun 2010

US Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said the shearing was "a significant step forward" in BP's sofar unsuccessful series of attempts to plug or contain the six-week-old leak that has gushed up to 19,000 barrels a day of oil into the basin.

"The next step will be to put the containment cap over what's left of the riser pipe ... and start to see if we can move gas and oil up the pipe, hopefully to start flaring off gas and start production later on today," he said.

Earlier efforts to use a diamond saw to shear off the pipe with a clean cut failed, possibly because the drill pipe inside the riser put up too much resistance, Allen said.

BP's next move is to lower the cap on the jagged remnants of the pipe in hopes that the seal will contain most of the leaking oil and gas, Allen said. A capping device will be placed over the leak to funnel oil and gas to a tanker vessel on the surface.

Because BP had to abandon efforts to slice through the pipe with the diamond-tipped saw, the ensuing cut is more jagged and irregular than initially planned. That means that BP will not be able to contain as much oil as it had hoped earlier.

"This is an irregular cut," Adm Allen said. "It will be a little bit more challenging to get the seal around."

BP's underwater strategy has turned to containment after its "top kill" plan to plug the well failed on Saturday. Oil is expected to flow from the ruptured well until BP completes a relief well, which is expected in August.